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British Mensa Travel Special Interest Group |
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Cuba
is different I visited Cuba for the first time in mid-November. Although it was winter there too, I was surprised to find such a green country, given that the temperature was 75° F and sunny with just occasional rain showers. The hurricane season is May to November and some damage to the sea wall from Hurricane Wilma was visible at Havana. Apparently it is green in summer too - there are palm trees, flowers and many fruit trees. Papaya was much in evidence while I was there. Cuba is much the same size as the UK, but has a population of only 11 million. The relationship with the USA has become very difficult. The existence of Guantanamo Bay is uncomfortable and there are also posters everywhere proclaiming “they will return” referring to 5 Cuban nationals currently imprisoned in the United States. Consequently, the dollar is banned and the currency which tourists obtain is the ‘convertible peso’, worth about the same as the dollar. This can only be obtained on arrival in Cuba and cannot be taken out of the country. Credit cards are accepted in theory, provided they are not American bank based, but in practice it is often difficult to use them. Cuban people use ordinary pesos. 25 of these will buy a convertible peso, but they are only given 24 if they sell them. Shops which sell goods for ordinary pesos tend to have very little variety and more old-fashioned items. There are also shops, rather like our charity shops, where recycled clothes are on sale. As far as food is concerned, there is a ration system. Each family has a card for use at a particular ration card shop. The names and ages of the members in the household are recorded inside and purchases noted down. They are allowed basic necessities; for example, 5lbs of rice per person per month. These are sold at very modest prices, usually just a few pesos. The elderly and the very young have extra milk etc. If more is wanted, it would have to be bought in convertible peso shops which are considerably more expensive. Wages are very low for everybody. Education is free and of a good standard. Schools are equipped with computers and TV sets although Junior schools often have to teach different things to different aged pupils in the same room. Secondary school children are frequently weekly boarders in the nearest large town. School uniforms are white shirts with red skirts/trousers for Junior school, blue for Secondary and yellow for Technical colleges. There is a building in villages which houses a TV set and video which those in the village who do not have their own can watch. If people do own a TV set, it is more likely to be an old Russian model black and white one than a modern colour TV. Most cannot afford either, so these TV buildings are very useful. If there is no electricity then solar panels are put on the roof to provide the power. Cuba has a lot of doctors - some of whom are exported to Venezuela in exchange for oil! Nevertheless, it is normally very difficult for a Cuban to move from one place to another. Getting a passport, even should you be able to afford it, is fraught with difficulties. You need to be invited and sponsored by someone from the country you intend to visit and this must be in writing. You then have to go personally more than once to answer a lot of questions at the appropriate ministry. Inside the country, getting to work is also a major problem. Public transport is not yet adequate. Buses are few and crowded. There is just one railway line. Most people outside towns travel on lorries which have benches along each side at the back (forget Health and Safety and don’t expect crash helmets on bikes either!) Any government vehicle (those with blue number plates) can be stopped by police and required to take some the queues of people waiting to get to work. They pay a token amount, but the owner pays tax on it. There is some industry, and tourism is also increasing, but much of the country has farms where fields are still ploughed by oxen. Chicken run around amongst the fruit trees and sugar beet. A few people own their own cars and these have yellow number plates. It is difficult to buy or sell a car, as well as expensive, so there are some very old American cars being lovingly kept going. On one farm, we were treated to one 1948 model being started up amid plenty of smoke and noise and moved outside its garage, for the engine to be inspected and admired by those who understand such things! It wasn’t much used because buying petrol is expensive for the average farmer. The small ancient bus used by the son on this particular farm to transport the weekly boarding school children, looked extremely dilapidated and to our eyes, not usable, but it was merely awaiting repair. Someone was designing some sort of spare part to keep it going! Newer, mainly Japanese, cars are arriving in Cuba, however, as hire cars for tourists. These have dark brown number plates. Light brown number plates signify company cars, but I only saw one the whole fortnight I was there and that was in Havana. Buying and selling houses is not really possible in Cuba. Houses are inherited and this often means that several generations live together. If you do need a house, then you can join a building scheme after work hours. This means that you spend possibly 12 years building not just the houses in a new village, but also the infrastructure - the TV room, the family doctor’s surgery with living accommodation above it and anything else required. Eventually you will be able to rent a house for some years until you have paid for it and can own it. Cubans are not allowed to holiday in tourist hotels, but sometimes good workers will earn a few days’ break in certain selected hotels by their outstanding work. In some towns people offer rooms to tourists. These places have a green triangle on the door and the owners have to pay tax monthly, regardless of whether they actually have tourists in their room or not. One hotel
I stayed in had a supermarket nearby. There are very few of these and
you can shop only with convertible pesos. You are not allowed to take
any sort of bag inside; it has to be left with the security staff in a
safety deposit area. Inside, there are more security staff keeping an
eye on most of the aisles; your plastic shopping carrier is inspected
and checked against your receipt as you leave. (I think that would slow
up trade in Sainsbury’s and the like over here!) I found the inside
of the shop very different from our UK equivalents. The freezers were
mostly empty; the aisles were wide and goods were stacked neatly along
shelves, spaced out to look as though the shelves were well stocked. Meat
we would find cheap, although I doubt Cubans would. However, imported
goods, such as tinned fruit, even I would have found astronomically expensive.
As goods cannot be imported from the nearest country (i.e. the USA) this
does push up the prices of imports. Souvenirs are not particularly interesting unless you want rum or cigars. Other souvenirs include model cars, made from wood or recycled tin cans, tablecloths, basketry, beads and some inexpensive jewellery. Postcards are not always of good quality and by the time you pay the postage, cost about 85p to send to the UK and take weeks to arrive. The people give an impression of being adequately fed and clothed, and are cheerful with music playing wherever you go. Tourists are made welcome. Crime is not a major problem although you should take the usual sensible precautions against petty theft and pickpockets. One final word: if ever you do take the 8½ hour flight by Cubana Air, do take a felt tip pen. On your return your luggage will be shrink-wrapped in green or yellow plastic at the airport to prevent theft of the contents. Lumps of plastic, with labels inside, popping out on to the carousel at Gatwick, all look much the same and are extremely difficult to identify. Only one person had thought to write his name on the outside of the plastic in felt pen - the rest of us were left to battle it out! First published in VISA issue 66 (Apr 2006) |